diff --git a/src/backends/meta-udev.c b/src/backends/meta-udev.c
index 1b68d424a43b1be9ede4578146f7b23300695639..173a1a9793716d02555d1858f7afe7e940d8a582 100644
--- a/src/backends/meta-udev.c
+++ b/src/backends/meta-udev.c
@@ -253,7 +253,7 @@ meta_udev_backlight_find_for_connector (GList      *devices,
   for (l = devices; l; l = l->next)
     {
       GUdevDevice *device = G_UDEV_DEVICE (l->data);
-      GUdevDevice *parent;
+      g_autoptr (GUdevDevice) parent = NULL;
       const char *prop;
 
       /* Only look for raw backlight interfaces */